Home Again
by PrincessinHiding
Summary: Just a quick little one shot about Will's homecoming after 10 long years at sea. Written by my friend, and uploaded with permission!


Home Again

The sun set in a flash of green, and the _'Flying Dutchman' _came sailing over the horizon. Elizabeth Turner caught her breath, grabbed her son's hand, and ran. They scrambled down the side of the hill, breathless with excitement. When they reached the bottom she paused, but only for a second. A figure had leaped from the side of the ship and was running through the water. Elizabeth dropped her son's hand and raced across the beach. She flew into her husband's arms and he held her, held her as if he'd never let her go. And she clung to him, sobbing and laughing his name, "Will! Will!" again and again, while he whispered hers, "Elizabeth, Elizabeth." Finally, she looked up, smiling, yet with tears in her eyes, tears that were mirrored in his. Then their lips met and they kissed. All the longing she had felt during the ten years of waiting, all the sorrow she had undergone, all the joy at seeing him again and being in his embrace, welled up in Elizabeth's heart and the tears spilled down her cheeks. Will tasted them on her lips and looked up to find her crying.

"Elizabeth?" he questioned gently.

"I don't want you to leave again!" she sobbed.

Will held her to his heart and rocked her gently, as he had many years ago when her father died. Then suddenly, as her tears fell on his scar, and where his heart should have been, he gasped as if in pain. Elizabeth looked up, startled.

"Will, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked.

He didn't answer but gasped again and lurched forward.

"Will...?" Elizabeth began again, when he lurched forward a third time and fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain.

Elizabeth fell on her knees beside him, fearing the worst.

"Will?" she whispered fearfully.

For a couple seconds he didn't move, then he groaned a little and straightened up, panting slightly.

"What happened?" Elizabeth demanded.

"I don't know." he replied. "It felt as if Davy Jones' blade was in me again."

Questioningly, Elizabeth began to pry his fingers away from his chest. As her hand touched the area of his heart, she paused, frowning slightly. She laid her hand there for a moment, and then her whole face changed. Her eyes light up and she laughed and gasped at the same time,

"Will! Will, its there! Your heart; I can feel it beating!"

Will clapped his hand to his chest and felt the thumping of his heart, a heart that had been cut out ten years before. He stood up, not quite believing, yet feeling the beating of his heart grow stronger and stronger. He looked down at Elizabeth and, seeing her happiness, laughed for joy.

"The curse is broken!" He cried, lifting her up, swinging her around and kissing her. Elizabeth laughed and laughed and felt her heart would break for joy.

A small unsure noise interrupted their rejoicing, and they turned to find young Will Turner, their son, looking at them uncertainly. Elizabeth smiled, and whispered in her husband's ear,

"Its your son, Will."

"I know." He replied in an awestruck voice.

Both Wills looked at each other for a long time; the boy taking in his father's height, boots, sword, and scared chest, the man taking in his son's youthfulness, earnestness, and eager eyes. Then the boy stepped forward and said a little shyly, "Father?"

In response, Will knelt down and opened his arms, almost fearing the boy wouldn't come. His son hesitated for the slightest second, then ran into them. They held onto each other tightly, half afraid the other would disappear. At length, Will pulled his son away and looked him up and down. He smiled.

"You look like your mother," he said, glancing at Elizabeth.

"Mother says I'm a lot like you." his son replied.

Will raised an eyebrow.

"Are you? In what way?" he asked.

"She says I think like you." the boy replied seriously.

Will smiled, and looked at Elizabeth. She smiled and shrugged. A cough made them all turn around, and they found that Bootstrap and the crew had come ashore.

"Son, is it over?" Bootstrap asked.

"Yes." Will answered. "We're free."

"Thank God for that." Bootstrap breathed. He looked at his grandson and smiled. "And who are you?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

"I'm Will Turner." the boy replied, moving closer to his father. "Who are you?"

"I'm Bill Turner, your grandfather."

"My father's father?"

"I am. Now tell me William, what shall we call you? Shall we call you Willie, or Will, or William?"

"Call me Will, like my father." the boy replied proudly.

"Very well, Will." Bootstrap chuckled. "Let me asked you something else. Would you befriend a pirate, or save a fair lady, or rescue your father, or fight cursed pirates and krakens? Or escape from cannibals? Because your father did all those things and more."

"He did?" Will asked wide eyed and looked at his father for confirmation.

Will nodded, looking abashed.

"Aye that he did." Bootstrap said.

"I'm going to be a pirate when I'm older." the boy, Will said.

"I thought your mother said you thought like me?" his father laughed. "When I was your age I hated pirates."

"But aren't you a pirate now?" asked his son.

"As a good friend of mine would have said, that is a matter of perspective." Will replied with a small grin. "Ask your mother if I am."

Their son looked at Elizabeth.

"Is father a pirate, mother?" he asked.

"Your father," Elizabeth replied with a teasing smile, "has sailed all seven seas, commandeered ships of the fleet, fought lawful agents of the King, stolen from other pirates, sprung men from jail, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga, and been completely obsessed with treasure. And yet, I would not call him a pirate."

"But he has an earring, and boots!" Will protested.

His father and mother laughed.

"Then I am a pirate." Will told his son.

"Come," said Bootstrap, "If you want to be a pirate, Will, I and the crew must teach you how. Do you have a port somewhere near by?"

"Our house is further up the island." Elizabeth said. "Show them the way, Will."

Will saluted, turned, and ran down the beach with the crew trailing behind him.

Elizabeth and Will followed more slowly. Suddenly, Will stopped and turned Elizabeth towards him.

"Tell me, Elizabeth," he asked, "Am I a pirate?"

"Does it matter now?" Elizabeth asked.

Will shrugged.

"No. It's just..." he stopped.

"Will," Elizabeth said, "You have done many things a pirate does, and you have kept company with pirates in order to fight against the law. But you did it for all the wrong reasons. I mean," she said hastily, "You did it for all the reasons a pirate wouldn't have done it for. You did them for me, and your father. And I love you for it."

"That still doesn't answer my question." Will said smiling.

"Oh you are so stubborn!" Elizabeth exclaimed laughing.

Will laughed and kissed her.

As the evening star, a voyager who also sailed uncharted waters and returned at length to his beloved, rose in the sky, Will and Elizabeth watched it from the front steps of their cottage. Their son had finally been persuaded to go to bed (after "Grandfather" had told him a story about pirates) and the crew lay stretched on the floor, snoring away. The lovers said nothing as they sat there, content to feel the other by their side. At last Will broke the silence.

"Was the waiting hard?" he asked quietly.

"Yes." Elizabeth answered. "Sometimes I wondered if I could bear it."

"I ferried souls across the worlds, and did my best for them," said Will unloading the weight his heart had felt for 10 years, " and all the while I longed to turn and sail back to you."

"And there were times when I wanted to find a ship and sail over the horizon to find you." Elizabeth replied.

"I used to fear you would be one of the souls needing to be ferried across." Will whispered.

"I kept your heart close to me, because I feared some mad pirate would stab it." Elizabeth whispered back, then she laughed. "And all our fears proved groundless, for here we are, alive."

"They were real enough then." Will replied. Then he too laughed. "But why dwell on the past? We have the whole of our future to spend together."

"That sounded like something Jack would say." Elizabeth said.

"Have you seen him at all?" Will asked.

"Yes, a year ago. He was on some mad adventure, and looking for rum."

"Have you seen Barbossa?"

"Yes, I've seen quite a lot of him. He still part of the Brethren Court."

"Are you still Pirate King?" Will asked amused.

"Not anymore," Elizabeth replied. "I resigned yesterday."

"Why?"

"Because I decided to be queen instead."

"Queen of the Brethren Court?" Will asked.

"No." Elizabeth laughed, "Your queen."

"Then, your majesty, you must allow me to be king of your heart." Will replied.

"I can only be your queen if you are my king." Elizabeth answered, and kissed him.

They were silent again, until Elizabeth said,

"Will, I visited Port Royale last week and I met the new governor."

"What is he like?" Will asked.

"He is a just man, and knew my father well," Elizabeth replied.

She hesitated, then said, "

He is looking for a new blacksmith. The town hasn't had one since its former blacksmith sailed away 10 years ago."

"What?" cried Will, "It hasn't had a blacksmith for ten years?"

"Would you like to go back?" Elizabeth asked. "The governor would be more than pleased to have you."

Will was silent for a moment.

"Yes," he said finally, "I would like to go back."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief,

"So would I." she said.

"We can buy a house there and start again." Will said.

Elizabeth nodded.

"And raise a family. Should we name one of our sons Jack?"

Will laughed.

"What about Hector?" he teased.

"We should name one James." Elizabeth said seriously.

"And one Weatherby." Will added.

"What should we name our daughters?" Elizabeth asked.

"Anne, after my mother." Will answered.

"And Lydia after mine." Elizabeth said.

"What do you think of Elizabeth?" Will asked. "We should name one of them after you."

"I suppose so." Elizabeth replied, "Do you like Sophie? I always fancied that name."

"I always fancied Catherine." Will replied.

"Well we can use both." Elizabeth said. She laughed, "If we have that many children, we can crew a ship and chase Jack across the seven seas."

Will grinned.

"How that would annoy him." he said.

Elizabeth sighed, " I suppose they'll all take to the sea. It seems to be in your blood."

Will looked offended.

"Its in yours too." he retorted.

"Then they'll have no chance." Elizabeth grinned.

Will grinned back and put his arm around Elizabeth. She laid her head on his shoulder, and felt perfectly at peace.

"How I missed you." Will whispered.

"Its over now." Elizabeth said turning her face towards him. "We'll never have to be parted again."

In reply, Will kissed her.

They sat there for a long while. The sky had grown dark, the stars were out in all their glory, and the moon shone like a sliver disk.

"Will," said Elizabeth suddenly "I love you…"

"I love you, too." he replied, and their lips met once more.

The wind stirred suddenly at their words, and far out to sea a mermaid raised her head above the waters, and smiled on the lovers' kiss. Then, with a long sigh, Calypso fell back into the sea and disappeared forever from the waters of the world.

As Elizabeth settled her head once more on Will's shoulder, she began to sing softly,

"_The king and his men stole the queen from her bed,_

_And bound her in her bones._

_The seas be ours, and by the powers,_

_Where we will, we'll roam."_

The End.

"_Yo ho, haul together! _

_Hoist the colors high!_

_Heave ho, thieves and beggars!_

_Never shall we die!"_


End file.
